Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (also known as Real Madrid, Los Blancos, Los Merengues or in English Royal Madrid Football Club) is a professional Spanish football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902, it plays in La Liga and is one of the most successful football clubs of the 20th century, having won thirty La Liga titles, seventeen Copa del Rey and a record nine UEFA Champions League titles. The team was a founding member of the now defunct G-14 group of leading European football clubs.[7]
The club plays its home games at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. Real Madrid is unusual in that, unlike most football clubs, it has been owned and operated only by its members (socios) since 1902. On December 23, 2000, FIFA awarded the Spanish team the title of the "Best Club of the 20th Century".[8] Los Blancos is the most successful club in UEFA club football competitions history with nine European Cups and two UEFA Cups; more than any other European club.[9] The only European trophy it hasn't won is the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, in which it played two finals, losing both by 2 goals to 1, first to Chelsea 2-1 in 1971, after an initial 1-1 draw in the first leg, the team lost 1-0 in the return leg and Aberdeen 2-1 in 1983.
Real Madrid is the biggest and most popular football club in the world according to the case studies at Harvard University in 2007.[10] It is also the richest one in terms of revenue.[11]
